Places I do/don't want to see again some/anytime soon
The "don't want to see again anytime soon" place: Dulles airport. With its endless traffic-ridden highway approach, never-arriving economy-lot shuttles, "impossible to check bags in a timely fashion even if you've already checked in online" lines, "you can't dash for the plane even if you're late because you have to take some weirdie trailer-on-wheels shuttle to your terminal" plane-missing obstacles, and oddly pervasive smell of burnt garlic/window-washing spray throughout the low-numbered C gates, I would be delighted to never see it again. Oh well, at least I have three weeks to brace myself.
So I have been back almost a week now from my latest whirlwind tour, but I'm still not yet quite as recovered as I would like to be, although with good reason -- with the exception of last Saturday I have been either working or travelling for work every single day since April 29. I'm tired! And was looking forward to a little entropy reduction/apartment cleaning, except that I hurt something in my back this morning changing my sheets, so I think all my planned lifting/stretching/bending stuff is out for the rest of the day. Hoping that the painkiller will let me nap a little, but in the meantime I will spend a few minutes reminiscing fondly about how much I really love California. My love for Chicago and excellent quality of life there kind of made me forget, but really, I just love California. The project taking me to Monterey continues to be annoying and filled with logistical difficulties (not to mention not intellectually stimulating at all), but I keep on reminding myself that it is, in fact, getting me to Monterey. Which is less fun now that N-ka and family are summering in Sankt Peterburg and so not around to play with, but still pretty nice. The major jetlag this time (9 hours difference between Hamburg and Monterey) meant that I was up pretty early every day, which once the sun rose made for some nice, practically person-free, early morning walks or runs. (The hotels I stay in are always adjacent to the bayside recreation trail, which is great -- I can stretch out on my balcony and then just head out.)
This morning here started out same as usual: a little bit foggy, a little bit sunny, and with a lot of resting seals.
They're like little ear-free flippery water-loving cats, just lazing around and sunning themselves on rocks all day, with periodic forays for food.
I wanted to sit on the beach I like and commune with my young seal friends (the juveniles far bigger than on my May trip, much harder to tell from adults this time) except unfortunately some dreadlocked white hippie with a guitar had beaten me to it. There was only so much stoned strumming I could handle (= next-to-none), so I headed down the path once more and followed some stairs down to a beach to nowhere -- on the left, a kayak launching site for the super-fancy hotel above and on the right, some kind of semi-abandoned construction site that has turned into a cormorant nesting ground.
They were all over. And didn't seem to mind me so much, barely glancing down at me at all, but seemed awfully concerned about something to the east -- I never could figure out what.
They were building nests right as I watched,
both right over the water and tucked away in nooks and crannies on high (upper left, here).
There were a few seagulls hanging out quietly too -- no one seemed to mind.
The bottoms of the construction pillars had become overrun with tidal-pool-type creatures, most notably sea stars (can you see the fourth in the picture below?) and sea urchins.
All my years of tidal-pool wading but I still have no idea what this rock-encrusting creature is.
But it sure looks nice with artfully strewn seaweed lying on top of it.
The trail runs over and alongside roads, but is pretty highly regulated, I suppose to make it safe for walkers/bikers/runners. I kinda think they could have stopped with the catch-all "motorized vehicle" category, but apparently the parks people like to cover all their bases.
Non-motorized skateboards also verboten, even if there are surprisingly graceful riders on them.
To be filed under "ironic": as I was taking pictures of the signs above, I was nearly run over by this truck that was backing up, which I'm pretty sure falls in the prohibited "motorized vehicle" category.
When I turned to flee, I found this even-larger truck blocking the path.
I guess rules can be broken when it's time for Mulch Madness.
So I have been back almost a week now from my latest whirlwind tour, but I'm still not yet quite as recovered as I would like to be, although with good reason -- with the exception of last Saturday I have been either working or travelling for work every single day since April 29. I'm tired! And was looking forward to a little entropy reduction/apartment cleaning, except that I hurt something in my back this morning changing my sheets, so I think all my planned lifting/stretching/bending stuff is out for the rest of the day. Hoping that the painkiller will let me nap a little, but in the meantime I will spend a few minutes reminiscing fondly about how much I really love California. My love for Chicago and excellent quality of life there kind of made me forget, but really, I just love California. The project taking me to Monterey continues to be annoying and filled with logistical difficulties (not to mention not intellectually stimulating at all), but I keep on reminding myself that it is, in fact, getting me to Monterey. Which is less fun now that N-ka and family are summering in Sankt Peterburg and so not around to play with, but still pretty nice. The major jetlag this time (9 hours difference between Hamburg and Monterey) meant that I was up pretty early every day, which once the sun rose made for some nice, practically person-free, early morning walks or runs. (The hotels I stay in are always adjacent to the bayside recreation trail, which is great -- I can stretch out on my balcony and then just head out.)
This morning here started out same as usual: a little bit foggy, a little bit sunny, and with a lot of resting seals.
They're like little ear-free flippery water-loving cats, just lazing around and sunning themselves on rocks all day, with periodic forays for food.
I wanted to sit on the beach I like and commune with my young seal friends (the juveniles far bigger than on my May trip, much harder to tell from adults this time) except unfortunately some dreadlocked white hippie with a guitar had beaten me to it. There was only so much stoned strumming I could handle (= next-to-none), so I headed down the path once more and followed some stairs down to a beach to nowhere -- on the left, a kayak launching site for the super-fancy hotel above and on the right, some kind of semi-abandoned construction site that has turned into a cormorant nesting ground.
They were all over. And didn't seem to mind me so much, barely glancing down at me at all, but seemed awfully concerned about something to the east -- I never could figure out what.
They were building nests right as I watched,
both right over the water and tucked away in nooks and crannies on high (upper left, here).
There were a few seagulls hanging out quietly too -- no one seemed to mind.
The bottoms of the construction pillars had become overrun with tidal-pool-type creatures, most notably sea stars (can you see the fourth in the picture below?) and sea urchins.
All my years of tidal-pool wading but I still have no idea what this rock-encrusting creature is.
But it sure looks nice with artfully strewn seaweed lying on top of it.
The trail runs over and alongside roads, but is pretty highly regulated, I suppose to make it safe for walkers/bikers/runners. I kinda think they could have stopped with the catch-all "motorized vehicle" category, but apparently the parks people like to cover all their bases.
Non-motorized skateboards also verboten, even if there are surprisingly graceful riders on them.
To be filed under "ironic": as I was taking pictures of the signs above, I was nearly run over by this truck that was backing up, which I'm pretty sure falls in the prohibited "motorized vehicle" category. 
When I turned to flee, I found this even-larger truck blocking the path.
I guess rules can be broken when it's time for Mulch Madness.
posted by Pangea at 1:20 PM
1 Comments:
The really strange thing about the mulch madness sign is that there's really no overt madness. Maybe the gardener is going mad inside...one day, we'll find body parts mixed in with the wood chips.
I also like how the skateboarder appears to be wearing shorts.
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